It’s going to be interesting to follow what happens as the Boston Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon exchange salary figures for arbitration in the coming days. Papelbon signed a record deal last year for closers with 2 years of service time when he signed for $775,000.
And now with Bobby Jenks signing a 1-year, $5.6 million dollar deal in his first arbitration year, you can bet Papelbon will be looking for more than that.
With the Red Sox signing Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis to long-term deals, you know that the Red Sox will want to sign Papelbon to one as well.
But as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com points out, it’s not going to be easy to get that done.
Plus you have what Papelbon is supposedly telling friends, he plans to test the free agent market in 3 years:
Although they have now managed to tie up Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis for six and four years, respectively, the Red Sox should not expect to do the same with closer Jonathan Papelbon, who is telling friends he has no intention of giving up his free agency rights in three years. It’s Papelbon’s position that, in agreeing to switch from starter to closer two springs ago, he made the ultimate sacrifice for the Red Sox considering that closers make less than starters. They also break down more, while starters are coddled.
I really do hope the Red Sox are able to work out some type of deal with him. It would be hard to watch Paps in any other uniform but I can understand his position in wanting to get what is fair and market value for his services.
